Ruins and Radios

Waterfalls in Lan Sang National Park

After leaving Lan Sang, Heather and I went to eat at a restaurant. We asked for food but they shook their heads and pointed in a different direction. It was early so we assumed they opened later and continued walking. Then a young girl called us back saying they’d cook for us and they sure did.  We enjoyed two fantastic omelettes. Afterwards, we went to pay but they wouldn’t accept it because we weren’t actually at a restaurant... we were at someone’s house! So instead they took pictures and laughed at us.

Sukhotai

It was about a 10 km bike ride from the ancient city of Sukhotai to the present city which has a population of 37,000. We biked along the highway. Now in Thailand they have a tradition that when you see a foreigner you honk the car horn as loud as you can. I no longer like that tradition...

It was Sunday so we biked to the only church in Sukhotai. The convenient thing about having only one church in town is that you simply type in church under destinations on google maps and you have directions to church.

The congregation had about 15 adults and a whole bunch of children. The only person who spoke a little broken English told Heather and I that they've set up a Christian radio station and are broadcasting to the people in Sukhotai. I was quite impressed as that is a large undertaking for a small church.

Then came my startling radio experience in Tak. Heather and I were at our favourite restaurant when all of a sudden the Christian song Dare you to Move by Switchfoot started playing on the radio. I was thrilled and without thinking ran to the waitress and asked in English what radio station was playing. The waitress burst out laughing because she thought I suddenly had the urge to buy a radio and happily told me hers was a Sony.    

Sukhotai was the first Thai kingdom, and where one of Thailand’s four great kings reigned from. His name was king Ramkamhaeng. He spread Theravada Buddhism throughout Thailand and also commissioned the creation of the Thai alphabet. There is a large statue of him at the world heritage site. I arrived at the statue and was looking at it when a few other men arrived. Then the men got down on their knees and started worshiping this dead king. They left and more adults started worshiping this statue and bringing their children to teach them to worship it as well. These people truly worship man made statues. Quite glad that my God cannot be contained in a statue, or even a temple as the song “Cannot Keep You” by Gungor so powerfully expresses.

Sukhotai's King Ramkamhaeng's
(Reigned:1278-1298 AD)

Orange        Sukhotai Kingdom

Light Blue     Lavo Kingdom

Red               Khmer Empire

Yellow          Champa

Blue              Dai Viet

Purple           Lanna Kingdom

Sukhotai Kingdom 1238-1583

The first wild boar I've ever seen with a halo.

Typewriters still exist!

Banana Boats and Flying Lanterns

Connor and I had the privilege to go and observe the Loi Krathong Sai festival here in Muang Tak. Loi means ‘to float’ and a Krathong is traditionally a little banana leaf boat which is set to float down the river as a thanks offering to the goddess of water, Phra Mae Khongkha.  Thousands of kratongs which are now also made from coconut shells, bread and plastic can be seen in the evenings floating down the river. Tak is particularly famous for Loi Krathong Sai, as it is a week-long festival here rather than simply a one-day celebration. Inside the kratongs people place candles, incense sticks, flowers, notes of forgiveness, money, and sometimes hair and nail clippings. The candle is to recognize Buddha as light, the releasing of the kratongs with hair and nail clippings is to symbolize the releasing of negative thoughts as well as to ask for personal blessings, and overall, the festival is to thank and ask pardon to the river goddess for polluting the river.

Thousands of vendors set up shop for the festival to sell food, clothing, balloons, plants, fish, dogs, and even tractors! (this made me feel quite at home J) The week is filled with concerts, fireworks, parades, competitions, shows, as well as “khom loi” which are floating lanterns in the sky. The floating lanterns are part of another festival, Yi Peng, which falls at the same time as Loi Krathong Sai and so they combine them here in Tak. We took in some of the 4 hour parade, opening ceremony and saw the launching of the royal kratongs into the Ping River.

It was so interesting to be at the festival and to see the Thais seek forgiveness, worship, and celebrate. There was so much preparation involved prior to the festival done by every business, organization, school, and family. Time, energy, and resources are poured into this annual celebration which is anticipated with much excitement by the Thais. This being said, it was also quite evident that the true meaning of Loi Krathong has been forgotten by most. Little value is placed on the reasons behind the festival, and the focus becomes the fun and ‘feel good’ aspects. Being there, I couldn’t help but reflect on the biggest celebration in my own culture which is just around the corner. Similarly, the true meaning of Christmas has long lost its place in our Canadian celebrations. Are we excited to celebrate Jesus Christ coming to earth, or are we just excited to celebrate? I’m reminded of Isaiah 29:13 when God says “These people come near to me with their mouth and honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men”. Christianity is not about religion, tradition, or specific acts that God desires us to do, but rather, because of His deep love for us, Jesus desires our hearts.  

Thanks again for reading!

~Heather

Cultural Tidbits:

-December 5^th is the king’s birthday here in Thailand and is therefore celebrated as Father’s Day. It is a national holiday and there is no school. King Bhumibol Adulyadej turns 85 today and is the world’s longest reigning head of state.  

  

The Thai flag in lights!

Kratongs come in a variety of sizes and styles.

A royal kratong

Floating lanterns for sale.

Launching a lantern.

A little taste of PEI in Thailand

The floating stage with photo of the king where many of this week's celebrations took place.

And now some shots from the parade:

Coconut shells are used as instruments.

All of the bead work and detailing in decor are done by hand. 

 

 
Here's a clip from a concert:

I just need to eat potatoes!

First of all I would like to clarify a few confusing details about where we live. We live in Muang Tak which means Tak City, but most people just call it Tak. It is the capital of the province of Tak. The province is considered huge and is the 4th largest of Thailand’s 76 provinces. I enjoy telling students that the province I come from is called Ontario and it is even bigger than Tak! In fact it is even bigger than all of Thailand! Then they gasp and I feel very satisfied. 

Wiki map of Thailand's provinces

Each week I have been testing out certain aspects of Thai culture that are different from Canadian culture. This week I went to get my hair cut. You might have thought that haircuts are standard across the world but no this was a totally different experience. I got my haircut in the back of the barber’s truck which was parked at a major intersection.   

We are starting to crave the luxuries that we’re used to back home. A few times Heather has come to me desperately saying “Connor, I just need to eat potatoes!” Luckily, we planned on satisfying her Islander desire by celebrating American Thanksgiving with the other foreigners at a North American style restaurant. However, when we arrived their mashed potatoes were actually mashed squash.... and they had pumpkin pie which was actually squash pie. All in all it was very tasty and a nice change from spicy food. The restaurant was also very welcoming and had the TV on a station that was airing a documentary about the construction of the Canadian railroad with occasional dog sledding interludes. Made me feel very proud to be Canadian. 

  

I went to the big Thai festival called Loy Krathong. I was expecting to experience a real sense of culture shock but surprisingly that didn’t happen until afterwards. One thing I learned to really respect about the Thai people during this festival was that they acknowledge that they mess up and feel the need to ask their gods for forgiveness and they do this buy floating a krathong down the river. I realize that I do not ask my God for forgiveness often enough and that there are many other life lessons that I can learn from these people.

As the night was coming to an end I was thirsty and felt a strong desire to buy a Sprite. Like Heather needed potatoes, I needed a Sprite. However, vendor after vendor didn’t sell Sprite. I was getting frustrated when finally I saw a beautiful Sprite bottle glimmering in the distance. My night was complete I went over to the vendor and purchased what I knew would be the perfect thirst quencher. The seller took a bottle opener and opened the Sprite for me which was very kind of him. Then he proceeded to pour my entire bottle of Sprite into a plastic bag! My jaw dropped and was still open as he handed me the plastic bag. I don’t understand this culture...

Release the lanterns

The royal kratong

Sweet dragon boat

Two Lovely Ladies

A couple weeks ago I mentioned that Connor and I had found this adorable little restaurant one evening which is just a hop, skip and a jump away from our apartments. We were so warmly welcomed from the moment we stepped in that it instantly became our favourite place in Tak. Our first time there we really knew no Thai at all which made ordering an interesting adventure. We tried communicating “anything at all”, but this was a failed venture so we resorted to pointing and nodding.

The name of this place is still unknown to me, (all the signs are in Thai), but it is run by two incredible ladies whom I love dearly. They are always so excited to see us when we come. Every time we walk by their restaurant they stop what they are doing to smile, “wai” (Thai way of greeting), and wave. We have continued to go back to this lovely spot very often and feel quite at home there.

In addition to their kind hospitality, the food is always SO GOOD! We have noticed that they have been picking up some English words to communicate with us, and they have been particularly excited lately as our Thai is improving and we are able to order Thai dishes. They are also quite happy that we can now tolerate “ni noiy” (mildly spicy) rather than “my pet” (not spicy) food.  

To get to school in the mornings I have been catching a ride with another girl who is also here teaching and has become a great friend.  This Wednesday she was really not feeling well and knocked on my door quite late in the morning to tell me she would not be headed in to school that day. I was glad that she was going to take the day to rest, but it did leave me in a bit of a pickle. I was supposed to be at the school early that morning to help students prepare for an upcoming English and French competition. The school is only about a 20 minute walk which I do quite often at the end of the day, but I was already running late and hated the idea of not being there for the students.

I walked down the stairs of my apartment and thought, ‘Ok Lord, how will I get there today?’ I began walking towards the school, and not 3 minutes into my walk did a lady on a motorbike pull over, re-strap her basket onto the front of her bike, and motion for me to get on the back. It was one of the ladies from the restaurant! She was on her way to the market to pick up some produce for her restaurant when she saw me walking. She knows which school both Connor and I teach at as her daughter is a student there. The very night before I had been praying for these women and wondering what I could possibly do to serve them and thank them for their kindness. Not half a day later, they are the ones blessing me even more.

Thanks again for reading and for all the emails I've been getting! It is truly so wonderful hearing from you!

~Heather

Student quotes of the week:

“I have made a foot. Have you made a foot?”

“The kitchen has a stove, a refrigerator, and a dead chicken.”

“I dislike monkeys because they jump.”

“I don’t like giraffe because the neck is long.”

A view of my favourite spot!

Thailand seems to have a strange obsession with Carnation milk. They put it in everything. 

Tables are always dressed with a variety of spicy sauces
I must admit we have not been too adventurous in this area yet. 

About to enjoy a feast!

Connor's track shirt makes an international appearance.
(This one is for you Michelle) 

Another reason why we love this place:
Pirate Bear glasses.

Thai cuisine anyone?

Kai jee-o, kow.
a-roy mahk! 

You cannot serve two masters

As each day passes I am beginning to notice the most popular hobby for children in Thailand seems to be setting off fireworks. Kids of all ages are always playing with fireworks. The youngest I’ve seen looked to be about five years old. They even set fireworks off at school in the middle of the day. It has become so normal that I don’t really think about it anymore I just carry on with my day. My favourite experience with fireworks took place in downtown Tak where some six years olds started setting fireworks off close to Heather and I. The first big one they set off surprised Heather so much that she let out a terrified shriek. From then on the kids would set off fireworks but instead of looking at the firework they looked straight at Heather hoping for her to provide another great reaction.

I have also noticed that Thai culture is very noisy. I woke up at 6 AM one day to the University across the street blaring loud Thai music as a bunch of people had gathered to make crafts. Really... is that necessary at 6 in the morning? There are also these birds called mynas that are very beautiful but also extremely loud during the night. I assumed Thai people were used to them but I was thankful when I was walking along one day and saw a man hunting the birds with a slingshot.

Arrival of the myna birds. 

One day after school I really felt like eating a normal bag of chips so I went to the convenience store and looked at their selection. What was I thinking? Of course they don’t sell normal bags of chips. Their entire selection was seafood flavoured. I could buy spicy crab chips, lobster and fried vegetable chips, or two different varieties of seaweed flavoured chips. So I panicked and bought them all!

Instead of onion rings they have squid rings!

Mmmmm.... seaweed flavours

Exotic chip flavours.

Thailand is known as a Buddhist nation. They have statues of Buddha, they worship Buddha and their calendar is dated from the day when Gautama Buddha is believed to have died. (March 11, 545 BC) So I am writing to you from the year 2556! Thailand’s Buddhism is really a blend of Buddhism and Animism and the majority of beliefs seem to be animistic. I am about to witness their spiritual beliefs tonight at the Loy Krathong festival where the people honour, thank and ask forgiveness to the river goddess.

I see a similarity between Thais who claim to be Buddhist but are really more Animist and Canadians who claim to be Christian yet do not live for Christ. Many Canadians publicly claim to be Christian, they go to church, and they study their Bible, but then live completely for themselves. They do not pray to God about their life decisions or their life path. They don’t ask Jesus about what they should do, or where they should go and so they say they are living out Christianity but they are actually living for themselves.

Here is the mark of a Christian who is not polluted by the world: “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” John 3:8

This is what happens when Connor tries to be artistic.

Found this frog in my shoe.

Looking so pro.

Random photo of Greenland!